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The Week: Home Office adspend rises to £13.7m despite clampdown

The Home Office increased its adspend by 46 per cent to £13.7 million in 2006/2007, despite a recent Whitehall clampdown on ad budgets, according to figures released to the House of Commons.

The figure is the body's highest spend for five years, and represents a
substantial increase on the £9.4 million spent in 2005/2006. The
Identity and Passport Service, one of its agencies, also spent a further
£1 million in 2006/2007.

Two new campaigns have been largely responsible for the rise: a national
push to tackle binge-drinking, part of the Government's "respect" drive
against anti-social behaviour, and a campaign to enlist Police Community
Support Officers.

The budget increase comes despite pressure being applied across
Whitehall to clamp down on adspend. High-spending departments, including
the Department of Health, the Department of Work and Pensions and the
Department for Education and Skills, have been forced to trim their
budgets in recent years.

A Home Office spokeswoman said that the total spend was still less than
1 per cent of the overall Home Office budget.